the conference room in Cecilienhof.
August 2, 1945: The Potsdam Conference ends.
The Potsdam Conference was attended by Joseph Stalin, Harry Truman (Roosevelt had died that year in April), and Winston Churchill (later replaced by Clement Attlee). Nazi Germany had surrendered three months prior, and Japan had yet to surrender (it would not do so until September of that year). The most pressing matter was the postwar status of Germany; the Soviet Union, who had suffered by far the largest amount of casualties, naturally demanded the heaviest reparations. Eventually, it was decided that Germany and Austria (and their respective capitals) would be divided into four occupation zones. Germany lost the territories it acquired post-1933 and populations of Germans living in disputed areas were expelled. Germany would be demilitarized, democratized, and denazified; additionally, plans were made for German war criminals to be put on trial.
The Potsdam Declaration, an ultimatum to Japan promising “prompt and utter destruction” if they did not surrender unconditionally, was also issued during this conference. The declaration was rejected, and four days later, the USAAF dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima.